MP3 Culture

Since I decided to share my paper examing the meaning of images and their relation, and use, in a digital medium, I figured what the hell – I’ll share with ya’ll my paper from my MP3 Culture course.

Rebirth of Aura: Communal Recording in the Digital Age

It’s an examination of cultural theorist Walter Benjamin’s belief in the destruction of the aura of art through mechanical reproduction. The concept being that all art is a representation of an object so what you see or hear is not the object itself, but the artist’s rendering of that artist. Even photography is merely a representation of the viewpoint of the photographer on the object being photographed.

My assuration is in an age of digital distribution, the aura of music may not only be preserved, but revived. Artists such as Fort Minor and Nine Inch Nails have allowed, at one time or another, fans access to multi-tracks of their respective songs allowing new creations, or new renderings of the artists work. So in this case, the art (music) isn’t losing its aura, so much as its identity is being recreated.

I’m hoping to take the concepts within and expand them into my thesis, so any thoughts would be appreciated.

Enjoy!

~ by sprzzatura on August 28, 2008.